The speechless warrior, rewrite
by Evilkat23
Summary: So, this rewrite is way overdue, A young kit, born without the ability to speak must try and deal with her feelings as she falls in love with a Shadowclan cat. (This is before Firestar dies. There will be no Hollyleaf, Jayfeather, or Lionheart in this story either)
1. Chapter 1

Leafpool walked into the queen's den, the soft sound of newborn kittens mewing ever so softly. Leafpool could also smell Ferncloud's sweet milk that flooded the nursery. Gently placing the borage next to Ferncloud, the two of them gently bumped heads together. Ferncloud purred softly as she then pulled away from Leafpool to lick her three new kits on the heads.

Firestar then walked in, his orange fur practically glowing in the sun. He chuckled softly as he looked down at the new addition to the clan.

"Have you thought of names for them yet?" Firestar asked her as he sat down staring at the three kits. Ferncloud purred softly as she gently brought her head down to point to each kit. The first one was a soft gray tabby tom with thin black stripes and he had a thick fluffy tail with a white tip at the end of it.

"This is Rockkit."

She moved on to the next kit resting between the two, a brown she-cat with pure white paws and white ears with a white tip at the end of her bushy tail.

"This is Barkkit"

Ferncloud then finished at the last kit, another she-cat. A black and cream tortoiseshell, unlike her siblings she had a thin tail, all together she seemed sleeker, her tail seemed oddly out of place as it was cream from the base to the tip.

"This little bundle is Petalkit." Ferncloud purred softly as she gently licked the final kit across the head. Petalkit mewed softly and gently reached upwards towards her mother poking her little claws out.

"Well, I shall allow you to rest, Congratulations, Ferncloud." Firestar purred as he walked away out of the den. Leafpool chuckled softly to the queen and then turned her attention to Sorreltail, the queen started to laugh as her two kits,

Spottedkit, a black and white tom with spots littered all over his fur, with two pure black front paws, was currently chewing on a piece of bark that Darkkit, another tom cat, he was dark brown with pure black tabby stripes with thick fur, Darkkit narrowed his dark green eyes and batted the stick out of Spottedkit's mouth, which in turn caused Spottedkit to tackle his brother.

"They should be apprentices any day now, Sorreltail." Leafpool purred at the queen as the two toms continued to tumble about in their play fight. It ended when Spottedkit fell in front of the newborns on his back.

"Meanwhile, I feel like I'll never give birth." Daisy softly spoke, her belly swollen full of kits.

"In due time, Daisy, in due time," Leafpool told her as she pushed some herbs towards the she-cat. Daisy could only sigh and reach over to eat up the borage.

"I will leave, just let me know if any of you need anything." Leafpool bowed her head before walking out. Ferncloud could only purr softly as she looked down at each of her kits, Slowly Barkkit lets go of her mother's nipple and started to wobble towards Sorreltail's kits.

"No, no, over here little one." Ferncloud leaned down and picked up her small kit and brought her towards her stomach once more.

Barkkit opened her mouth, but no sound come out of her mouth, Ferncloud only tilted her head but then shrugged and licked Barkkit's head softly. Gently wrapping herself around all three of her kit's Ferncloud gently shut her eyes and went to sleep.

* * *

Around two moons's passed without an incident, Spottedkit and Darkkit both became apprentices and had their names changed to Spottedpaw and Darkpaw.

Rockkit, Barkkit, and Petalkit were now walking and talking, well...Two of them were talking, Barkkit still hasn't spoken a word. Rockkit, Ferncloud, and Leafpool all tried to get the small kit to speak, but whenever she opened her mouth nothing ever came out.

"Could she be faking?" Dustpelt asked as he watched Barkkit play with her littermates.

"I don't know..." Ferncloud breathed with a headshake.

"Only one way to find out." Dustpelt suddenly left Ferncloud's side and walked up behind Barkkit, the small kit paid him no mind as she and Rockkit started to swat the air, clearly trying to swat one another but failing miserably. With no warning, Dustpelt suddenly put all his weight on one foot as he stamped Barkkit's tail.

Barkkit's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to yowl out in pain, but nothing came out. Everyone stopped and watched as Barkkit jumped and moved her tail out from under her father's paw, they watched as she silently and frantically licked her tail.

Dustpelt turned his gaze to Ferncloud who looked down as the realization that Barkkit wasn't faking.

Leafpool frowned and trotted over, sniffing a bit, she sat in front of Barkkit and gently tapped her tail,

"Barkkit, come over here," Leafpool ordered, the was a moment of hesitation from the young kit, before she slowly and bashfully walked up to Leafpool, her ears down as she did so. Leafpool leaned down and let out a curious hum.

"Barkkit, come here," Ferncloud spoke from behind the kit, Barkkit turned and happily ran to her mother. Smiling up at Ferncloud, Barkkit rubbed affectionately against Ferncloud.

"What's wrong with her?" Petalkit asked with a slight sneer, disgust in her voice, and Leafpool frowned deeply.

"I don't know...I don't think she can talk." Leafpool breathed out as she looked down at Barkkit.

"I'm sure she can talk! She has to be able to talk. Barkkit, Just say my name." She ordered Barkkit to do, Barkkit opened her mouth and spoke, but nothing came out.

"Barkkit, this joke isn't funny-" Dustpelt started but Leafpool sighed gaining all the attention.

"Dustpelt, She's not speaking, you stepped on her tail and she didn't make a sound. I think she might have a condition where she can't speak."

"But she can purr! I heard her as I was grooming her! How can she purr but not speak!?" Ferncloud demanded as she held Barkkit close to her stomach.

"I don't know, but...Let's give her another moon, if she doesn't talk, then maybe...We might need to talk to Firestar about her being disabled." Leafpool bowed her head slightly as she backed away. Ferncloud frowned before looking down at Barkkit, her kit looked up at her and smiled.

"Barkkit, let's play!" Rockkit happily crouched down ready to pounce. Barkkit ran up to him and the two started to tumble about. Ferncloud turned her gaze towards Petalkit, who now had her head up in the air as she refused to look at Barkkit.

"I'm not playing with her." Petalkit simply said before strolling into the nursery with her head high in the air. Ferncloud just sighed out and laid back down on her nesting, reaching over, she grabbed Petalkit by the scruff of her neck and dragged her daughter under her so she could properly groom her.

"Barkkit will talk soon, don't be this way, Petalkit." Ferncloud sternly told her daughter between licks.

* * *

The moon came and went and Daisy had her kits, well, kit, she had one kit, a full cream colored she-cat named Softkit. Aside from that, and Sandstorm moving into the nursery, much to her dismay, nothing really changed. Barkkit still hasn't spoken a word, and it's gotten everyone concerned.

"Ok, just open your mouth and try to form the word 'Hello.'" Sandstorm ordered her to do. Barkkit opened her mouth, she mouthed the word but nothing came out of her mouth. Sandstorm frowned, then ordered her to do it again, Barkkit seemed annoyed as her ears lowered a bit and her eyes narrowed. She did so again, but once again, nothing happened. Sandstorm this time mimicked Barkkit's annoyed look and sighed.

Petalkit was off to the side, her ears lowered as she watched the two interact, frowning the kitten ran up to her mother and let out a whine.

"My stomach hurts." She let out a pitiful whine as she tucked herself under her mother's arm. Ferncloud let out a soft airy chuckle.

"Is that so? You were fine just moment's ago." Ferncloud giggled softly and Petalkit lets out another whine.

"It just started..."

"Really?"

"It hurts so bad..."

"Then I guess I should get Leafpool-"

"It doesn't hurt that bad!"

"Petalkit..."

Petalkit moved from under her mother and lowered her ears bitterly.

"Fine, I don't have a stomachache."

"You know better than to lie to me, Petalkit. What's going on?" Ferncloud asked and Petalkit just looked away, her cheeks puffed out bitterly as she sat there.

"Nothing...Nothing. Forget it." With that, she bounded away.

"Just. Say. Sandstorm." Sandstorm ordered Barkkit, the kit at this point grew rather bored and just started to bat around a small ball of moss and soon started to chase it. Sandstorm let out a sigh and shook her head,

"Ferncloud, I think you should speak to Leafpool about her..." Sandstorm told Ferncloud as she watched Barkkit play with the ball of moss.

"I...I know...Do you think she'll have to be a medicine cat apprentice?"

"I don't know. It's the end of the world if she is, Leafpool could use an apprentice."

"Yeah. I know...I know." Ferncloud sighed and just crossed her paws.

"Hi, Barkkit." Spottedpaw greeted the brown she-cat warmly, Barkkit looked up at Spottedpaw and flicked her ear slightly at him.

"Here watch me, lower yourself to the ground, that way, you can pounce better on the moss ball," Spottedpaw told her as he got low to the ground, slowly Barktail mimicked his movement and got low to the ground.

"Lower, your flank is too high." He pressed his paw to her flank and lowered her a bit more. "There that's good...Now...Pounce!" He ordered and she did so, landing on the ball, she silently cheered as she then swatted the ball away.

"Then again...She shows promise." Ferncloud chuckled as she watched Barktail play with the moss ball, Petalkit stood outside the den watching her littermate and could only narrow her eyes and lower her ears.

"She better not...She doesn't deserve it.." Petalkit whispered, swallowing hard, Petalkit, turned and walked away, her tail high in the air. Her sister doesn't deserve any of it, none of the attention she's gotten from everyone, none of it. Petalkit was going to prove that Barkkit was faking it if it was the last thing she did.


	2. Chapter 2

Ferncloud trotted into Firestar's den and bowed her head once he looked at her.

"You wanted to see me?" She asked him, Firestar stood from his nest and shook some of the moss clinging to his fur, with a sigh, he walked over to her and gently spoke,

"It's about Barkkit."

"I figured. Is this about her apprenticeship?"

"Yes, it appears that she's mute. Unable to talk."

"That's true. But, Firestar, she can hear just fine, It's just her voice..."

"I am aware, but, think about the problems that can come from that. If she is alone and get's attacked she can't call for help or get attention from anyone, she's an easy target for an attack." He told Ferncloud flatly, who frowned at that,

"Then...Maybe give her rules. She can't leave the camp without someone being with her at all times."

"Ferncloud, that makes her no different from an apprentice. Would she be happy with that?"

"I...I don't know...But, I think you should at least give her a chance, a moon? Just let her train as a warrior apprentice for a moon and if it doesn't work out then she can be a medicine cat apprentice...Please, all I'm asking is to just give her a chance." Ferncloud practically begged.

There was a slight silence as Firestar seemed to be thinking, she watched as her leader slowly trotted to her and let out a soft sigh in response.

"Alright. I'll give her one moon. If she can prove that she's able to keep up with the training, she'll become a warrior, however, if she cannot, then I will have Leafpool train her." He simply spoke to the queen, instantly he watched as her face lit up and she smiled.

"Thank you, Firestar! I can guarantee she's warrior material! Thank you!" She grinned before rushing out, probably to tell Barkkit the good news.

"So, Did I just hear you say you were giving Barkkit a chance?" Graystripe softly laughed as he trotted into Firestar's den. Firestar gave his old friend a smile in response,

"Of course, everyone deserves a chance at being a warrior, you know that."

"Yeah, I know. Do you think she can do it?"

"Maybe, maybe not, we'll see. I've never seen a cat that couldn't speak before, so whoever her mentor is, it'll be interesting to see them try to teach her." Graystripe chuckled, his smile then quickly dropped when he noticed the look Firestar gave him.

"No, Firestar, no, please."

"Graystripe. You are my best friend, more than that, you're practically my litter-mate, I wouldn't have you train her if I didn't think you couldn't handle it, and if she shows that she can't be a warrior, then it'll only be a moon. Besides, I heard you saying you wanted an apprentice."

Graystripe frowned and turned his head before sighing out bitterly,

"Fine, but don't expect me to take it easy on her just because she can't talk."

"I wouldn't expect you to."

* * *

"Petalkit! I've told you a thousand times, do not use your claws when playing with your siblings." Ferncloud berated Petalkit as she licked Barkkit's newest scratch. Petalkit lowered her ears as she looked away clearly brewing in anger.

"It's not my fault she's faking to get attention," Petalkit muttered bitterly under her breath, of course, it didn't go unnoticed by her mother.

"Petalkit, we've been over this. Barkkit is not faking. She's really disabled." Ferncloud let out a sighed as Barkkit lowered herself into Ferncloud's paws her ears low, gently the kit rubbed against her mother's paws.

"Oh, sorry, Barkkit." Gently Ferncloud leaned down and licked Barkkit's head.

Petalkit rolled her eyes and let out a tsk before walking off away from her mother and over towards Rockkit, her brother grooming his tail.

"I swear I'm already getting fleas." Rockkit griped bitterly.

"What's your thoughts on Barkkit?" Petalkit asked him as she sat down in front of Rockkit her ears flicking a few stray bugs away.

"...She's our litter-mate. How am I suppose to think about her?"

"She's getting all the attention because she can't talk. Doesn't that annoy you?"

"I don't think she gets all the attention," Rockkit mumbled as he moved his attention onto the base of his tail.

"Really? I mean Sandstorm is trying to get her talk, Firestar is making her a warrior's apprentice when she really should be a medicine cat apprentice, it's just not fair. She should know her place." Petalkit lowered her ears bitterly. Rockkit just rolled his eyes before shaking his head,

"Firestar is just giving her a chance, every cat deserves a chance."

"I am tired of hearing that." Petalkit hissed as she then stood and shook her pelt.

"Petalkit, just let her try. I'm sure she can do it, any cat can do anything they put their minds to."

"You just don't get it!" Petalkit yelled before storming off back towards the nursery den.

Barkkit twitched her ears at Petalkit's sudden yell, watching her litter-mate run into the den, she frowned a bit and walked over to where Petalkit was laying.

"Stay away from me," Petalkit grumbled to Barkkit. Slowly, Barkkit walked a little closer and Petalkit's ears went back and she snarled out,

"Get away from me!"

Barkkit tilted her head to the side and gently sat down next to Petalkit, instantly Petalkit jumped out swatted at Barkkit hitting her in the face.

"I SAID GET AWAY FROM ME!" Petalkit roared out, instantly Barkkit scrambled away and ran to Ferncloud and Sandstorm.

"Petalkit!" Ferncloud went to scold, but Barkkit put her paw on Ferncloud's paw, All she could do was shake her head stopping her. Ferncloud sighed and sat back down.

"You shouldn't let her get away with that." Sandstorm sighed out.

"I normally don't," Ferncloud mumbled as she sat back down and started to groom Barkkit's pelt. Sandstorm let out a sigh and watched Barkkit allow her mother to groom her.

"They'll be apprentices before long." Daisy purred out as she allowed Softkit to come out with her.

"Five moons. Next moon they're ready to start training." Ferncloud told Daisy, Daisy looked at Barkkit and smiled at her. Barkkit smiled back. Spottedpaw then trotted up to Ferncloud and Barkkit.

"H-Hi Barkkit." Spottedpaw greeted her, Ferncloud chuckled softly as Barkkit just tilted her head at him a small smile on her face.

"Spottedpaw, we're going hunting," Thornclaw ordered and instantly Spottedpaw was by his side.

Ferncloud sighed and crossed her paws as she watched the two go.

"You'll be a great apprentice. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." Ferncloud whispered to Barkkit, Barkkit purred in response, she then yawned and nuzzled up against Ferncloud before slowly shutting her eyes and falling asleep wrapped in her mother's warm embrace.


	3. Chapter 3

**So, when I first made this story, I had Brightheart teach Petalpaw and this is one of the changes with this rewrite, seeing how I think Brightheart can only teach the disabled...Maybe, I might be wrong.**

 **So I thought about it, and I decided I should probably tell you what I'm getting rid of to try and see if I can make this story better.**

 **one of the major things I am getting rid of is no more Starclan prophecies for Barkpaw, after rereading my old story I realize they were rather pointless in the end. That doesn't mean Starclan won't be present for some parts. That and it kind of made her seem like a Mary-sue that she was getting these...**

"Moooom! I'm clean enough!" Rockkit whined as he squirmed from under his mother. Finally breaking free, he quickly bolted towards the High Rock where Firestar was ready to start a meeting.

Barkkit walked up to her mother and allowed Ferncloud to groom her.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join under high rock for a clan meeting!" Firestar called out to the cats below. Barkkit smiled and ran up behind Rockkit, the two kits turned and excitedly grinned at one another. Petalkit just slumped up behind Barkkit and rolled her eyes before letting out a bitter huff.

"Ferncloud's kits have now grown to the age of six moons and it is time for them to be apprentices. Rockkit, Please come forward."

Rockkit practically tripped over himself as he ran up towards Firestar breathing heavily, Barkkit watched as her brother practically jumped up and down as he waited for Firestar to continue.

"Rockkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Rockpaw, Your mentor will be Spiderleg. I hope Spiderleg will pass down all he knows on to you."

Spiderleg joined up on the high rock and stood in front of Rockpaw. Rockpaw stood there his eyes bright and shining as he grinned up at Spiderleg. Firestar continued his speech,

"Spiderleg, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from Mousefur, and you have shown yourself to be fast and brave. You will be the mentor of Rockpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Rockpaw."

Together Spiderleg and Rockpaw touched noses with one another and soon the clan was chanting.

"Rockpaw! Rockpaw!"

The two quickly stepped down and Barkkit approached Firestar, feeling her legs shake nervously she stood there and waited, once the clan died down, Firestar started up again,

"Barkkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Barkpaw. Your mentor will be Graystripe. I hope Graystripe will pass down all he knows on to you."

Barkpaw almost let her jaw drop as Graystripe came trotting up. The elder cat sat in front of Barkpaw, who was ready to faint where she stood. A part of her wanted to turn around to see Petalkit's face, but she didn't, she stayed almost frozen.

"Graystripe, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from Lionheart, and you have shown yourself to be loyal and trustworthy. You will be the mentor of Barkpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Barkpaw."

Barkpaw and Graystripe both touched noses, Barkpaw felt Graystripes cold nose against hers and broke away only when he did.

"Barkpaw! Barkpaw!"

Jumping down with Graystripe, she looked at Petalpaw, her sister sending death glares her way. Firestar finally got to Petalkit and finished up,

"Petalkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Petalpaw. Your mentor will be Poppyfrost. I hope Poppyfrost will pass down all she knows on to you."

Poppyfrost came up and smiled at Petalpaw, who in return gave an obvious faux smile.

Poppyfrost, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from Thornclaw, and you have shown yourself to be Intelligent and Kind. You will be the mentor of Petalpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Petalpaw."

Petalpaw and Poppyfrost touched noses and quickly they broke away when the clan started to cheer,

"Petalpaw! Petalpaw!"

After the the clan meeting was over and everyone moved on to their daily activities.

"Barkpaw. I want to show you the battlegrounds and the borders as soon as possible so we can get your training underway." Graystripe told her and hurriedly they made their way towards the entrance of the camp. Feeling her heart pound away, Barkpaw let out a shaky breath and anxiously followed Graystripe out of the camp.

Once outside, Barkpaw could only soak up so much of her surroundings as she moved her head from side to side to look at everything.

"Come on, we're nearing the Shadowclan border," Graystripe told her as they continued to walk, Barkpaw scrunched her nose up at the nearing Shadowclan smell.

"Yeah, they smell great, don't they?" Graystripe chuckled at his joke.

"I think we smell pretty great." Came a male voice from the border, both Graystripe and Barkpaw turned and looked at a pure black tom cat, clearly no older than an apprentice, he tilted his head at the duo as he sat.

"And you are?" Graystripe asked as he walked a little closer but didn't dare cross the border, instantly the black cat smirked and spoke in a confident yet smug matter,

"Midnightpaw, soon to be warrior, then soon to be deputy, and soon to be greatest clan leader of all time."

"Not the least bit insecure are you?" Graystripe chuckled softly at him.

"Why should I be? I'm the best. And what about her? Hm? Do you plan on being the next leader of your clan?"

"Let's just focus on getting her to be a warrior first. Let's go, Barkpaw." Turning, Graystripe leads Barkpaw away, she gave Midnightpaw one last smile before trotting away after her mentor.

After showing Barkpaw the other territories without an incident, they came back around towards the Shadowclan border and Graystripe let out

bitter growl once he saw a warrior with the apprentice, this warrior seemed to be a female who was a dark gray tabby with stripes that were a slightly darker gray.

"Oh, Graystripe." The female greeted bitterly.

"Smokefur, how nice to see you." He sarcastically greeted with an eye roll, before Smokefur could get a word in, Midnightpaw spoke to them once more,

"Hello again."

Smokefur's ears in an annoyed matter as she glared at Midnightpaw,

"Midnightpaw, we do not greet them like they are our own they are Thunderclan cats."

"Ok fine. Greeting once again. OW!"

Smokefur swatted at Midnightpaw's ears her ears low with annoyance.

"Don't be smart with me!" Smokefur hissed angrily at Midnightpaw, and Graystripe could only laugh softly, his whiskers twitching ever so gently.

"I like him already. Anyway, let's go Barkpaw, I'll show you how to get the moss for the elders." Graystripe told Barkpaw as he ushered her away from them, Smokefur gave Graystripe a glare before walking away with her own apprentice.

Once far enough away, Graystripe brought Barkpaw to the nearest tree with moss growing on the bottom.

"Alright, so this is simple, you just use your claws to dig the moss out, be careful if you shred it too much it can no longer be used a bed as the moss will just cling to their fur," Graystripe told her simply, she nodded and watched as he started to dig gently at the moss till he managed to get enough out from the tree to serve as a bed.

"Alright, now you try." He told Barkpaw. Barkpaw nodded and started to dig at the moss like Graystripe showed her, her claws out she made sure to not shred it too badly. Once she was sure she had enough she looked at him and he nodded,

"Not bad. Let's go and give this to the elders and call it a day." Graystripe told her, she nodded enthusiastically and grabbed her moss pile in her mouth and Graystripe did the same thing and together the two of them walked back towards the camp. Barkpaw felt her tail go high as she felt happy, today was her first day and it was only going to get harder from here, but she knew she could do it.

Once back into the camp, Barkpaw and Graystripe went to the elder's den and respectably they swapped out Mousefur's and Longtail's beddings before Graystripe allowed her to go and eat. With her head and tail high in the air, she happily grabbed a rabbit from the pile and started to eat. Not even halfway through her meal, Spottedpaw came trotting up to her and sat down almost on top of her.

"So, how was your first day?" Spottedpaw grinned at her warmly, his smile then dropped when she just blankly stared at him. Spottedpaw let out an awkward cough and gently rubbed his nose with his paw.

"Oh, right...Uh..." Spottedpaw turned away clearly embarrassed by his mistake. Barkpaw felt her whiskers twitch as she continued to eat her rabbit.

"Tonight is your first night in the apprentice den, and I was wondering if maybe you wanted to...Uhh..." Spottedpaw paused as he looked at her once more, she looked back at him and tilted her head in response as she waited for him to continue with his sentence. "Uh...I was wondering if you maybe wanted to...Ummm...Sleep..." He paused for a second and took a deep breath obviously mustering up his courage, "Would you like to sleep next to me tonight? Just so you're not lonely, that is...I know Petalpaw isn't the nicest to you-" He was suddenly cut off by Petalpaw's own voice and Barkpaw could only shut her eyes,

"I think I'm very nice, maybe if Barkpaw wasn't so obviously being pitied by Firestar, then she might earn some respect from me." Petalpaw simply spoke, her head high as she walked passed the duo. Spottedpaw only snorted in response to that,

"She's not being pitied, she's just given a chance."

"I am so sick of hearing that." Was all Petalpaw had to say about that before she walked over to the fresh-kill pile and took out a mouse for her meal. That was when Darkpaw came up and quickly the two of them were together eating that mouse.

"You never did answer me, would you like to sleep next to me tonight? Just nod." Spottedpaw spoke up and Barkpaw could only shrug and nod in response, it would be nice to not be alone on her first night as an apprentice. Spottedpaw instantly perked up happily and grinned at her

"T-That's great." He let out a slight sigh of relief and seemed to relax a bit as well. Barkpaw finished up her rabbit and stood up, stretching out her paws, she kneaded the ground below her before shaking the dust off of her pelt. Looking up, she saw Graystripe make his way into Firestar's den, she felt her heart race a bit knowing that Graystripe was probably telling Firestar about what happened today, not that anything really did happen today.

Still, Barkpaw turned and walked over to Ferncloud, her mother outside of the warriors den sharing tongues with Brightheart.

"Hello Barkpaw, was your first day good?" Ferncloud asked her and Barkpaw nodded in response. "That's good." She purred at Barkpaw.

"It's a shame, I heard that Firestar was thinking about making me Petalpaw's mentor, but I guess I heard wrong." Brightheart sighed softly with a headshake.

"You'll get your own apprentice here soon enough," Ferncloud told Brightheart gently. Ferncloud looked up at the sky and yawned, "Well it's getting late, I think you should head off to bed." Ferncloud turned to Barkpaw who lowered her ears a bit but nodded anyway. Walking back to the apprentice den she shyly poked her head in and looked around, there were five moss beds, Rockpaw was already asleep in one. Walking in she picked the bed next to Rockpaw and gently started to knead at the moss bedding. Before she could even lay down she felt like someone was staring at her, turning to look at Rockpaw, he just watching her. She gave him a smile in response, she watched as his ears went back in annoyance causing hers to perk up. Rockpaw then got up from his bed and moved to the one farthest from her.

Sitting down in her bedding she could only feel her ears go down slightly as a wave of sadness hit her. Sighing out she could only continue to knead her bedding before she finally just flopped down onto the soft moss, curling up into a ball so the tip of her tail touched her nose she shut her eyes just trying to get some sleep. It wasn't long until she felt Spottedpaw come and lay down next to her. Yawning she didn't think too much on it when she leaned over and used Spottedpaw's back as a pillow unintentionally dragging him closer to her. Still, she finally shut her eyes and allowed herself to sleep after a long day.


	4. Chapter 4

Barkpaw woke early the next day, so early that the sun was just barely rising up. Poking her head out of the den, she walked out and sat down outside of the den and started to groom her pelt. Getting the stray pieces of moss of her, she finished up her grooming by swiping her paw over her left ear a few times.

"Good morning. Barkpaw." Firestar greeted her with a yawn as he suddenly bent down and started to knead at the ground beneath him. Barkpaw nodded towards him and he simply stretched out his legs before stiffly walking away. Barkpaw watched him walk away before she just simply took in a deep breath and looking up at the dawn slowly creeping up.

"Good morning, Barkpaw."

Not paying attention, she jumped at Graystripe who had come up to her side when she wasn't looking. Graystripe let out a soft laugh at her, his whiskers twitching with amusement at her.

"Good thing you're up early, I have a lot planned for you today. I'm going to show you how to hunt first, and if we have time then I'll teach you a few battle techniques." Graystripe told her as he licked his paw.

Barkpaw looked up at him and grinned.

"Good. Now let's get going."

Together the two of them walked out of camp, Barkpaw felt excitement run through her veins as she followed Graystripe through the forest. Suddenly, Graystripe crouched down and Barkpaw did the same, following him silently this time, Graystripe slowly whispered to her,

"Ok, see that mouse?...Watch me..."

Barkpaw watched him intently, Slowly Graystripe started to creep up on the rodent, then in one quick movement he jumped and landed on the mouse and instantly broke its neck. Coming out of the grass, Barkpaw watched as Graystripe then buried it.

"Now, we bury them so we can come back and get them later," Graystripe told her as he patted the earth below his paws and then gestured for her to follow him once more.

"Oh, a thrush. Think you can get it?" Graystripe asked her as he gotten down on his hunches once more, Barkpaw gotten down as well and watched the thrush intently, nodding at him, she quietly watched the bird peck at the ground, moving forward a bit, she frowned when the bird suddenly looked up and with no warning it took off. Frowning she sat up and looked back at Graystripe.

Graystripe chuckled and trotted up to her,

"Birds are different than mice, see that blue bird over there?" He paused and pointed to the blue bird pecking away at the ground, she nodded, and he carried on, "Good watch me."

Getting down on his hunches, he slowly tiptoed towards the bird, it almost looked like he was gliding across the grass as he stalked up close to the bird. Then in one leap, he jumped and landed on the small animal, he quickly bent down and snapped it's neck effortlessly, and like before, he buried it.

"See? Different. Now. Watch how I did it."

After demonstrating once more for her, she watched with more focus this time, and finally, she spotted another thrush on the ground. Getting down the way Graystripe had taught her, she narrowed her eyes as she watched the bird, getting closer she wiggled her hind a bit into the air before finally leaping into the air and managed to land on the bird beneath her. The bird didn't die, instead, it started to squawk and flap its wings, quickly she bent down a bit down on the bird's neck breaking it instantly. Burying the bird like Graystripe taught her.

"Good catch." Came a soft voice from the Shadowclan border.

Turning, she saw Midnightpaw from before, the black tom cat just sitting and watching her. She looked at him and smiled. Graystripe let out a groan and trotted up.

"Nice catch, let's get going." Graystripe hurried Barkpaw along.

"Hey! I never did get your name!" The black tom spoke as he followed them.

"It's none of your business!" Graystripe shouted to the tom as they continued to trot away. Barkpaw kept walking along, until after a while she started to notice that Midnightpaw was still following them. Watching him just follow them along, she couldn't help but be amused. Unfortunately, Graystripe wasn't as amused as she was, as he stopped in his tracks and let out a bitter tsk. Once he stopped, Barkpaw stopped, and when she stopped, Midnightpaw stopped.

"Don't you have something better to do?"

"Nope."

"Look, you Shadowclan cat! I'm trying to train her here, she can't learn if you keep distracting her with your presence!" Graystripe hissed bitterly and Midnightpaw just laughed a bit at him, his whiskers twitching gently as he laughed.

"Very well, I'll distract her at the clan meeting then." The tom cat winked at Barkpaw, causing her face to suddenly heat up all the way to the tips of her ears. Graystripe only leaned beside Barkpaw and just shook his head,

"Stop that, you fur-brain." Graystripe hissed, not to Barkpaw, but to the Shadowclan apprentice. The apprentice only got up and turned from where he sat, he then quickly bounded away from them.

"Shadowclan. I swear. Take my advice, stay away from that one, he's nothing more than trouble I can feel it in my bones." He shuddered at Barkpaw and ushered her away, together the two of them hunted for a good while, Barkpaw was getting better and better with every new kill she found. By the end of it, she found and caught, two mice, a jay bird, and a thrush. With her head high in the air once more, she trotted into camp happily with her kill. Graystripe and she placed the dead animals down on the fresh-kill pile.

"Hm, That took longer than expected." Graystripe groaned a bit as he stretched his body out. "Still, we do have some time. Let's go out and do a couple of easy battle moves, then we'll call it a day."

Barkpaw nodded energetically and practically rushed back towards the camp entrance and waited for Graystripe.

"Alright, I can see you're excited." Graystripe chuckled softly as he quickly trotted up beside her. Together the two of them left the camp and made it towards the battle ground.

"You go and stand over there." He ordered Barkpaw, she nodded and practically ran to the other side. Getting down low, she wiggled her hind playfully.

"Ok, we're going to do this with our claws sheathed, come at me and try and get my neck, again, claws sheathed," Graystripe told her, she nodded and positioned herself a bit before charging forward towards Graystripe, Graystripe got into a different position, and before Barkpaw even got to him, he managed to swipe the side of her head and cause her to go tumbling onto her side.

"Ok, not bad, but it can be easily blocked, as you saw," Graystripe spoke up as Barkpaw got back up. Shaking her pelt to get the dirt off. "Now, try it this way, roam around a bit and try to get the surprise on me, like you're hunting something." He told Barkpaw who happily nodded and disappeared into the grass.

Stifling her breathing, she silently stalked through the grass until she saw a good spot to attack him, his left side. Narrowing her eyes, Barkpaw watched him for a few seconds, his ears were perked up as he seemed to be listening out for her. Silently moving forward, she wiggled herself a bit before charging forward, Graystripe turned to look at her, but couldn't block in time and she managed to head-butt his side as hard as she could.

Graystripe let out a gasp as the air knocked out of him, once down on the ground, Barkpaw simply put her paw on his neck and smirked slightly. His eyes narrowed slightly and he snorted.

"Cheater. I told you to come to me, not to knock the wind out of me. Still...Good job." Graystripe groaned softly as he slowly sat up. Barkpaw smiled at him and Graystripe just looked at her. "Ok, now...Urg..You got the element of surprise on your side that's for sure. Now-"

Barkpaw, still being close to him, just hit him in the face with her paw. Graystripe only looked at her and chuckled.

"Smarty." He gently cuffed her ear in response as he winked at her. "In all seriousness, back up and get on your back, I'm going to be on top of you and I want you to use your hind legs to push me off of you. Ready? Go."

Backing up, Barkpaw got down onto her back and Graystripe got onto of her, placing both of his large paws onto her shoulders, she couldn't help but see just how intimidating his paws and the tip of his claws was, she didn't want to be on the other side of those. Breathing out, she reeled her hind legs back and kicked Graystripe as hard as she could in his stomach. Once more, he let out a gasp but didn't get off. Huffing out, She rapidly continued to kick him in the stomach before he suddenly fell off of her gasping some more. He let out a gag and Barkpaw heard the wet sound of something wet hitting the ground by him.

"I said to kick me off, not to kick me till I throw up what I ate." He scolded her as he gagged out bitterly.

She lowered her ears at him apologetically and he sighed.

"Alright, let's try again. Use your paws to push me up and off, do not just kick me this time." Graystripe ordered and she nodded while making herself still, Graystripe got on top of her once more and Barkpaw took a deep breath in and sprung her hind legs just a little below his stomach and instead of just kicking him, she used the lower half of her body to move him up and off of her. It didn't really make him go flying, seeing how he was rather heavy but she did manage to push him off. Still, she did wind up doing a backward summersault and getting back onto her paws.

"Alright, nice job...Urg...I think I need to rest for a moment...And go and see Leafpool while I'm at it. Let's call it a day." Graystripe grunted in pain as he now started to limp away towards the camp, Barkpaw followed happily behind him.

"Ok, go and give the queens something, then eat something yourself, and rest up. We'll probably go on patrol later if Leafpool gives me the ok that is." He groaned and limped into Leafpool's den. Barkpaw just smiled softly and walked over to the fresh-kill pile, grabbing a thrush and a mouse she walked over towards the queen's den she gave Daisy the mouse and Sandstorm the thrush. Once they said their thanks, she trotted back to the pile and grabbed the blue jay and sat down to eat. She wasn't even halfway finished with her bird when Spottedpaw came up to her.

Spottedpaw laid down next to her and quickly started to groom her fur. Barkpaw looked at him as he raked his tongue along her back, she just shrugged lightly and leaned up to lick his chest. She could feel the vibrations of his chest as he purred. She pushed the rest of her meal towards him and Spottedpaw happily at it up, not before licking the blood off of her muzzle first. She just looked at him and stood up, scratching at the dirt below her.

"Urg. So gross." Petalpaw sneered at the two of them. Barkpaw felt Spottedpaw wrap his tail around hers and just sneered right back at her.

"But it's alright when you and Darkpaw get together like this, right?" He asked her bitterly.

"Yeah, it is, because Darkpaw and I are normal." Was all Petalpaw said before trotting into the apprentice den?

"Normal.." Spottedpaw sneered in a mocking voice before rubbing up against Barkpaw's neck with his head. Barkpaw felt herself purr and then she stretched out and clawed out at the ground before yawning sleepily. Graystripe walked up to her, causing her ears to perk up.

"Alright. Well, Leafpool told me to rest up for the rest of the day. So we'll finish today early, oh, and remember, you can't leave the camp without the accompaniment of another warrior." He told her and she just nodded, she already knew about that rule, her mother had told her before she even became an apprentice. Graystripe walked away and into the warrior's den, Barkpaw gently licked one of her paws and swiped it over her ear.

All and all, today was an interesting day, and still, she hasn't felt discouraged and she was going to keep going strong, to prove that she has what it takes to be a warrior.


	5. Chapter 5

Barkpaw watched her prey intently as she slowly inched closer to it. Letting out a low breath, Barkpaw finally jumped and landed on the brown and black rabbit. The rabbit let out a loud shriek and raked its claws down her neck, she felt cool air hit her neck and she could feel blood slowly drip down and, her ears went back and she quickly went down and bit the rabbit's neck, snapping and killing it instantly.

"Not bad."

Turning her head, she could only feel her ears go back as she stared at a familiar Shadowclan cat on the other side of the border.

"That rabbit got your neck pretty good...You don't have your mentor with you today?" The tom asked and Barkpaw felt her ears go back once more, not in annoyance but more in a guilty fashion. Yeah, she left camp without the accompaniment of another warrior or apprentice, but she figured it wasn't that big of an issue, as long as she brought back some food. Besides, Graystripe was still resting from yesterday.

"You know, you don't talk much...And you're still bleeding." Midnightpaw pointed out and Barkpaw simply looked at him. Midnightpaw let out a bitter tsk and suddenly crossed the border, Barkpaw took a startled step back at the apprentice's sudden brazenness. Midnightpaw then sat next to her and started to lap at her wound. She felt the tips of her ears turn red hot as he continued to lap at her injury. She should be attacking him, shooing him away, he was over the border, but she didn't. No, instead she purred.

"There you go. I'm no medicine cat, but I think that should do it." Midnightpaw told her softly.

"So, your name? I still don't have it." The black cat winked at Barkpaw who just shrugged at him and shook her head. Looking into his bright green eyes she could only look away.

"What's wrong?...Cat got your tongue?" He laughed at his joke and she just looked at him and let out a silent sigh. She then opened her mouth and slowly mouthed the words,

'I can't speak.'

Midnightpaw frowned and tilted his head to the side and leaned in closer to her.

"Why are you just mouthing words?"

Barkpaw shut her eyes and looked at him before shaking her head some more and opened her mouth to scream out this time. Midnightpaw tilted his head and slowly everything seemed to click for Midnightpaw. He opened his mouth and just stared at Barkpaw,

"You can't speak? Oh...That's unfortunate." Midnightpaw sighed out as he looked away from Barkpaw, he then turned and returned to his side of the border, once on his side, the both of them quickly started to groom themselves to get one another's scent off of themselves.

"Hey, look, can you give me your name?" Midnightpaw suddenly asked and Barkpaw could only give him a disbelieving look as he now knew she couldn't talk.

"Just...Try. I hope your name is an easy one..." He gave an awkward chuckle and Barkpaw just simply pointed to the nearest tree with her paw. Midnightpaw let out a soft hum as he examined the tree.

"Treepaw?"

Barkpaw shook her head and he chuckled softly,

"Ok, Leafpaw?...No?...Hmmm...Barkpaw?"

Barkpaw nodded at him and he raised his head happily before suddenly his face turned more confused than anything.

"Barkpaw? Heh, makes you sound like a tom cat, but, I know you aren't." He winked at her and let out a sigh as he scratched the earth below him. "Well, I got what I wanted. I hope to see you at the meeting in the next few days, Barkpaw."

With that, Midnightpaw turned and hurried away. Barkpaw watched him leave, once she was sure he was gone, she dropped down to the ground and started to roll around in the dirt. Making sure she was getting all of the Shadowclan scents off of her. Once she was sure the scent was off of her, she stood and grabbed her dead rabbit. Silently coming back into camp, Barkpaw put the rabbit in the pile and went to make her back to the apprentice den, however, before she even made it halfway to the den, she felt something step on her tail stopping her in her tracks. Turning she looked up at Firestar and felt her ears go down in fear as her eyes widened.

"My den, Barkpaw." Firestar simply told her before walking off to his den. Barkpaw felt her ears stay low as she slowly and timidly walked over to Firestar.

"Barkpaw, you left the camp without Graystripe or another warrior. You know the rules we set for you."

Barkpaw simply pointed outside to the fresh-kill pile where her rabbit still was and Firestar gave his tail a slight lash, making her put her paw back down.

"I know you caught some fresh-kill, but, Barkpaw, you still broke the rules. For your rule breaking, you have to take care of the elders for the rest of the day. That means changing their beddings, getting rid of their ticks and fleas, and feeding them. You may go." He simply told her and ushered her away from his den, Barkpaw let out a silent huff and walked away from Firestar's den. Once out, she heard Petalpaw and Darkpaw snickering at her, she simply turned her head away from the two of them and trotted into the medicine den. Leafpool looked up at Barkpaw,

"Oh, hello. Barkpaw...What happened to your neck?" Leafpool asked as she slowly leaned into the rabbit scratches on Barkpaw's neck. Barkpaw could only shake her head and then stood there slightly frozen as she realized she couldn't tell Leafpool just what she needed.

Using her paw she just simply pointed towards the elder's den, Leafpool tilted her head in thought as Barkpaw continued to point.

"Are the elders alright?" Leafpool asked and Barkpaw just lowered her ears in annoyance, silently growling out, she started to pace the medicine den floor. Leafpool sat down and watched Barkpaw continually pace, a confused look on her face. Finally, Barkpaw walked up to Leafpool, getting on her hind legs she placed her front paws on Leafpool's side while pretending to search her neck for ticks.

"Ummm..." Leafpool muttered out as her body rocked a bit as Barkpaw continued to faux nibble on Leafpool's neck.

"Barkpaw, I don't have ticks-Oh. Ok. You need mouse bile, don't you?" Leafpool asked with a chuckle, Barkpaw got off of Leafpool and nodded happily. Leafpool trotted over and grabbed a moss ball.

"Here you go," Leafpool told her as Barkpaw took the ball away from Leafpool, instantly Barkpaw recoiled at the nasty taste invading her mouth. Quickly she darted out of medicine den, racing towards the elder's den, she walked over to Mousefur, who just blinked at Barkpaw.

"I take it you're here to get the ticks?" She asked with a slight twinkle in her eye.

Barkpaw nodded, her mouth curled up into a snarl as the disgusting taste continued to seep into her mouth making her shudder and try her hardest not to throw up.

"Right behind my left ear." She ordered and Barkpaw found the big fat tick almost instantly. Dabbing the disgusting mouse bile on the tick she watched it die and fall off of Mousefur's ear. Sighing out softly she dropped the moss away from Mousefur and herself. Spitting out the taste she shuddered deeply.

"Heh, I know, it's disgusting." Mousefur chuckled at Barkpaw.

"Barkpaw. I'm sure I have a tick on my neck." Longtail groaned as he woke up, Barkpaw slumped a bit and trotted over towards the moss ball, with a silent groan, she picked it up once more and started towards Longtail...

Barkpaw silently groaned as she practically fell into her moss bed. Taking care of the elders was not something she wanted to do again. Breathing softly, she slowly shut her eyes and allowed herself to go into much-needed sleep. The sleep didn't last long as she felt someone lay down next to her, gently bumping into her. Expecting to see Spottedpaw, she opened her eyes and looked down at the cat next to her, her eyes grew wide in shock as her head drew back slightly as she looked at Rockpaw. Her brother hadn't spoken to her since they became apprentices and now he was laying beside her.

"Oh? Did I wake you?...Sorry..." Rockpaw lowered his ears and turned his head away from her, clearly ashamed. "I'm sorry for not speaking to you for a while...I was kinda...Jealous. I mean, you got Graystripe for a mentor! And me?...I got...My brother..." He mumbled bitterly as he turned away from her.

"...Still...I saw you working your tail off taking care of the elders and I realized...It's not...It's not right to be mad at you. You didn't ask to be mute." He breathed out to her, his ears staying down as he guiltily pushed some moss away from his paw. With a sigh, he gently rubbed against her and then looked up when he saw the scratch on her neck.

"Oh, what happened here?" He asked her softly, she just turned away from him and laid her head down, Gently Rockpaw laid his head down with her, and let out a soft sigh.

"...Barkpaw?...Nevermind." Rockpaw simply sighed out once more and watched at she fell asleep once more. Once she was asleep, he expected to fall into an easy sleep as well, but, before he could Spottedpaw came in and took a startled step back at the sight of Rockpaw sleeping next to Barkpaw.

"What are you doing next to her?" He questioned in a whisper so not to wake her.

"She is my sister. Or have you forgotten that already?" Rockpaw quipped slightly as he stretched his paws out.

Spottedpaw let out a snort in response and just laid down next to Barkpaw on the opposite side. Rockpaw had to admit it was pretty impressive how Spottedpaw managed to get next to Barkpaw and not accidently wake her.

"Just know, I'm watching you," Spottedpaw warned in a whisper as he laid his head down next to Barkpaw.

"I don't plan on hurting her. Just go to sleep." Rockpaw yawned softly.

After a while Spottedpaw managed to fall fast asleep, soon Petalpaw and Darkpaw came in and lay next to one another without a second thought. Rockpaw laid there, wide awake unable to sleep. He looked at Barkpaw and down her neck where the scratches were, she had been attacked by something and not able to call for help. That terrified him, what if she decides to go off on her own once more and gets attacked by a badger or a fox? She couldn't call for help, she could die...

Looking at Barkpaw fast asleep, Rockpaw let out a soft sigh as he rested his head down softly. As he slowly drifted off, he could have sworn he smelt Shadowclan coming off of her.


	6. Chapter 6

"The gathering is tonight," Firestar spoke to the small patrol consisting of Barkpaw, Graystripe, Thornclaw, Spottedpaw, and himself. Barkpaw perked her ears up slightly at the mention of the gathering as they all walked through the forest.

"You're all going, of course, as well a few others," Firestar told them as they continued to walk around the forest. Graystripe suddenly sucked in a deep breath as they neared the Windclan border.

"Do you smell that? Smells like Windclan are scenting a bit too close to our side." Graystripe said as he lifted his head to breath in deeply once more. Barkpaw mimicked his movements and took a deep breath in. It did smell that way.

Firestar frowned and the patrol followed him towards Windclan's border. Everyone sniffed around, Thornclaw let out a bitter hiss and Firestar spoke to him,

"Keep it easy, I'll bring it up at the meeting tonight." Firestar told them simply, he paused and then nodded, "Let's mark it back to your side."

The others nodded and went to work marking their side back. Once they were done they went back to camp, where Firestar ordered more patrols to keep an eye on Windclan's border.

Once the meeting finished, Barkpaw grabbed a thrush from the fresh-kill pile and went to the nursery to give it to Sandstorm, she only blinked when she saw three new kittens suckling from the she-cat. They weren't here this morning, meaning she must have had them while she was on patrol with the others.

"Oh, Barkpaw, please, come and meet them." Sandstorm called her over. Walking up cautiously she looked at the kittens.

One was a tom cat with white fur, but he had bright orange paws and an orange tip on his tail.

"This is Redkit." Sandstorm told her, she then moved onto the next one, like his brother, it was a tom cat. This cat was bright orange all over with faint orange tabby stripes.

"Blazekit."

She then finished on a white she-cat,

"And this is Coldkit."

Barkpaw blinked, what an odd name for the poor kit, then again, she wasn't the mother so she really couldn't talk...If she could talk, that is. Urging the thrush towards Sandstorm she then turned and walked away from the nursery. Feeling the sun warm her fur up a bit, Barkpaw gently clawed stretched out and clawed at the ground tiredly.

"Hello, Barkpaw" Rockpaw greeted her as he came up next to her. She gave him a little nod greeting him back.

"I'm going to the gathering tonight, are you?" He asked and she nodded in response. The two of them walked over to the fresh-kill pile to grab a piece. Both silently sat down and started to eat their meals. Halfway through her eating, she felt something hit her side causing her to look up at Petalpaw, her sister glared down at her before walking away, her head held high in the air.

"Great Starclan..." Rockpaw breathed out with an eye roll. Gently he licked the blood off of his muzzle and looked up at the sky, the sun slowly starting to set.

"Rockpaw. Why are you sitting with her?" Darkpaw rolled his eyes as he walked over to Rockpaw.

"Because she's my littermate," Rockpaw answered like it was the most obvious reason in the world, and Darkpaw responded with a scoff,

"Please, Spottedpaw is my littermate and you don't see me hanging around with him. He's a total embarrassment...But not as much as an embarrassment as Barkpaw is." Darkpaw simply said as he went to walk away from the two of them. Barkpaw couldn't stop her ears from going low as she stared down at the gazed down sadly at the ground below her paws.

"Hey!" Rockpaw suddenly yelled out as he stood, his fur now fluffed out in anger. Darkpaw rolled his eyes and turned around to face Rockpaw. "You take that back right now! Barkpaw isn't an embarrassment! and neither is Spottedpaw!"

Darkpaw let out another scoff and got into Rockpaw's face.

"No. I'm not taking back the truth," Darkpaw responded, Barkpaw watched as Rockpaw's claws slowly slid out as he tensed up, even more, he started looking more like a fluff ball as his fur continued to rise in anger.

"It's not the truth!" Rockpaw seethed out, Barkpaw could see several warriors looking at the two of them and she wished she could just vanish right now, Rockpaw suddenly relaxed and allowed his fur to go down before continuing with a sly chuckle, "You know, I would call you a mouse-brain, but that would be an insult to the mice, you're worse than that, you're fox-dung. Worthless and stinky."

With that, Rockpaw turned, making sure to hit Darkpaw in the face with his tail.

Rockpaw has his head held high as he went to sit down next to Barkpaw. Darkpaw stood there for a few seconds unsure of what to say, Barkpaw watched as his fur started to fluff up as he stood there brooding in anger. Darkpaw looked like he was ready to strike at Rockpaw, but he stopped himself suddenly and backed down with his ears low. At first, it confused Barkpaw until she realized Darkpaw was looking behind them. Turning around she saw Firestar walking up to them.

"What's going on?" Firestar asked softly showing no emotion as he stared down at the three of them.

"Darkpaw was calling Spottedpaw and Barkpaw embarrassments to the clan! I just put him in place." Rockpaw quickly spoke up.

"That's not true! He just started yelling at me for no reason!" Darkpaw quickly spoke up.

Firestar lashed his tail and both of them backed down.

"What Rockpaw said is true, Darkpaw did call us embarrassments, Rockpaw defended us," Spottedpaw spoke up from behind the leader. "I watched the whole thing." Spottedpaw sat down looking up at Firestar who just sighed out.

Darkpaw made a face towards Rockpaw's direction, sneering at his littermate. Of course, this didn't go unnoticed by Firestar who stared down at him.

"Rockpaw, Darkpaw..." Firestar sighed out softly, he didn't seem annoyed, in fact, he seemed to have a small smile on his face as he just shook his head. "Alright, my den, both of you." He turned serious as he ushered the two of them away back towards his den.

Spottedpaw walked up to Barkpaw and gently nuzzled against her softly, "Rockpaw shouldn't have gotten in trouble for that...Do you think he can still go to the gathering?" He asked her and Barkpaw only shrugged slightly in response. Softly he purred and she purred back in response. She felt a strange tightening in her chest as he suddenly reached up and licked her muzzle, most likely to get some remaining blood off. Still, her ears didn't flare up and she didn't feel a rush like she did with that Shadowclan tom...

A part of her honestly wished he'd be at the gathering tonight.

Spottedpaw was right, unfortunately, both Rockpaw and Darkpaw weren't allowed to go to the gathering, and they had to take care of the elders for the rest of the night. Barkpaw could feel Darkpaw glaring at her as she got ready to leave with the others.

Obviously, Firestar and Brambleclaw were coming, as well as Thornclaw, Leafpool, Spottedpaw, Graystripe, Poppyfrost, Petalpaw, Dustpelt, and Ferncloud were all going along. Barkpaw ignored Darkpaw, she was too excited to even worry about him at the moment. As they were leaving the camp, Barkpaw felt Petalpaw give her a, not so nice, shove, causing her to bump into Graystripe. Graystripe simply chuckled,

"Excited? Don't worry, these gatherings are peaceful, no cats will attack you." Graystripe told her with a smile, Barkpaw only smiled back and continued to walk along with the others.

It wasn't long before they reached the fallen tree. Barkpaw watched as everyone jumped up and started to walk across the tree, Barkpaw's was the last one to jump on, she quickly found out that the tree was slick the hard way. Falling off it, she landed in the water below. Letting out a silent yowl, she quickly jumped out of the water and back onto the tree. Digging her claws into the bark, she clung to it for dear life.

She tried to climb back up, but her fur being heavier than before, she was having some difficulty.

Thankfully, Barkpaw felt someone grab her by her scruff and pull her back up to the top. Without looking at who helped her, she quickly shook her pelt getting all the extra water off. Earning several complaints as she did so.

Blinking she looked over, only to realize that the one that did help her, wasn't from her clan, no, it was Blackstar, the leader of Shadowclan,

"Are you going to just stand there?" Blackstar coolly asked Barkpaw. Feeling her whole face heat up, she quickly turned and rushed, more carefully this time, to join up with the rest of her clan. Making it to the island, she quickly shook herself once more.

"You are a mess." She heard a familiar voice speak to her. Looking up she saw Midnightpaw, the pitch back tom clearly trying not to laugh as his whiskers twitched a bit. "Here, let me help you." He leaned in started to help her dry off.

"What are you doing?" Came Spottedpaw's voice as he approached the two.

"She fell into the lake, nobody else offered to help her dry off." Midnightpaw shrugged like it was no big deal as he kept close to Barkpaw, keeping her warm. Spottedpaw shuffled his paws a bit as he glared back at Midnightpaw. Spottedpaw's black and white fur slowly started to rise as his face turned sour. "In fact, no Thunderclan cat even tried helped her get out of the lake, my leader had to." Midnightpaw smugly told Spottedpaw.

Barkpaw only shivered as her fur clung to her body in clumps. She could feel the water still slowly dripping off of her and onto the ground below. Looking up at Spottedpaw, she watched him with a pained look on his face, before he suddenly turned and walked away from them.

"Someone is jealous," Midnightpaw smirked slightly, turning to Barkpaw, he kept close to her as she continued to shiver from the cold.

"Let the meeting begin!" Blackstar yelled and everyone quickly got situated as they looked up at him. Blackstar stood up and started to talk about the new apprentices, he then moved on to queens and warriors. Nothing too interesting to Barkpaw honestly. That's all it really seemed to be until it got to Firestar's turn.

"Windclan has been marking over their border."

Onestar had his head held high and he just shook it back and forth before saying,

"Windclan has been having an issue with prey, It's low, we figured if we could extend our territory just a bit to have more room for prey."

"Don't you think you should have at least asked if this was alright? It's not." Firestar argued. Onestar narrowed his eyes at Firestar but said nothing more. Several Windclan warriors tensed up and glared at the Thunderclan warriors around them.

"Hey. I want to show you something." Midnightpaw said suddenly, he then stood and walked away from Barkpaw, much to her disappointment. She frowned and started to shiver once more. Watching him walk off, she looked around and started to follow him. They both walked towards a tree and Barkpaw watched as he suddenly vanished.

"Someone took the time to hollow it out. Come and see." Midnnightpaw's voice sounded and Barkpaw poked her head down only to have him suddenly grab her and she was pulled down inside of the tree with him. Landing on her back, she looked up at Midnightpaw who just grinned at her.

"You know, you have...The prettiest eyes..." Midnightpaw told her softly with a warm smile on his lips. Barkpaw once more felt her whole face turn hot as she stared wide-eyed at him. Midnightpaw suddenly composed himself and let out an awkward cough before shaking his pelt.

"I found this last gathering, it's an interesting hideout. Trust me, these meetings can get rather boring." Midnightpaw told her as he looked around the small hollow. Shifting herself so she was now on her paws, Barkpaw looked up and had to admit, it was rather impressive. Plus, it did help her dry off easier.

Midnightpaw then slowly laid down, following his lead, she laid next to him and rubbed up close to him, no doubt smelling like Shadowclan. She'll have to take another dip into the lake just to wash it off. Still, she didn't pull away from Midnightpaw as they continued to lay there in silence.

Awkward...Awkward...Silence.

"So...You really can't talk, huh?" Midnightpaw asked and Barkpaw could only silently sigh before nodding. "That's really a shame, I bet if you could talk you'd have a very nice voice," Midnightpaw told her and Barkpaw could only look at him with a soft smile.

He's really piling on the flattery. It's kind of amusing to her, in all honesty.

"I know this sounds strange, but, when I first saw you...I couldn't stop thinking about you, not until I got to fully talk and understand you...It doesn't seem like I'm getting that, though..." He frowned but then perked up almost immediately. "That's fine, though! I can still ask you questions, like, do you have any siblings?"

Barkpaw couldn't help but laugh silently and nod to his question.

"Oh, how many?"

Barkpaw paused momentarily as she looked at him wide eyed, how many siblings did she have again? Unable to think of the answer she simply shrugged in response.

"Ah, have a lot then. Alright...I only have one brother, Scalepaw, he would have been here tonight, but he got sick." Midnightpaw frowned a bit and then he perked his ears up suddenly and his green eyes went wide.

"Oh no...I don't hear anybody!" Midnightpaw darted out from the hollow and Barkpaw quickly followed behind him.

Midnightpaw suddenly skidded to a halt causing Barkpaw to do the same thing, sending the dirt beneath their feet flying up as they stood there in slight shock as Firestar stared down at the two of them.

Barkpaw felt her heart rate quicken once she realized,

This might ruin her chance to be a warrior.


End file.
